Half full or half empty?

[koan]

Is your glass half full or half empty?

I'd say mine is on the way to being full. A work in progress, so to speak.

[spot]

Nobody has ever handed me an empty glass, it would be the height of rudeness.

Now, I know the glass wasn't this light when I got it. I can see there's less in there. I can feel the effect of the contents on me, where I've been sipping at it all this while. At my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying near; and yonder all before us lie deserts of vast eternity. The laws of entropy are quite specific about this point.

If I toss down the rest of it, will I be able to get a refill? Are the other glasses going round on trays available for just anyone to take? Can I wander over to the sideboard and top this one up any time I feel like it?

It's a strange metaphor, this glass you brought up. Does it simply represent life? wealth? happiness? If it's happiness, I know where the sideboard is. If it's wealth, I can struggle to the bar of enterprise and acquire more any time I have the patience to queue and nobody is engaging me in conversation. If it's life, I can trust to the generosity and good nature of the host, that the glasses on the trays aren't reserved for more important guests.

If you started with an empty glass, Koan, and it's now half full, I hate to think what you've been doing since the party started. If it's on the way to being full by the time the party ends, you're just going to make more work for the cleaners.

[koan]

It is fun to play with metaphor.

In this case the true question is are you an optimist or a pessimist?
"On it's way to being full" does not mean to imply that I am vomiting into it, though I hear some people view my posts that way, it means more that I gather little bits of "liquid" from the decanters passed around and rever it too much to drink it away. I see that the glass is half empty but remind myself it is half full with the potential of gathering more.

[Peg]

It depends on my mood at the time of reading this question. Most of the time, half full. Right now, half empty.

[spot]

I don't regret for a moment consuming the half that is gone. I'm under its influence, I give myself to the enjoyment and appreciation of the memory of what is already consumed and yet, glory be, despite all that my glass is still half full! It may have less of a surprise in it, it may have come from a bargain bin during a closing down sale, but it's good stuff.

[koan]

I admit to stealing a few sips from mine but then I work double time to replace it. Don't forget in the analogy the fuller the cup the more positive the outlook. On that note...I have noticed that I let others drink from my cup far too often. It seems the refilling in those instances is twice as much work.

[koan]

And sometimes, when my back is turned or I'm not paying attention, someone goes and down the whole freakin' thing. I see the emptiness briefly but profoundly.

[spot]

What you need is a friend with a good cellar, a bright fire at the hearth and a long evening free.

[devist8me]

That actually sounds.....wonderful.

[koan]

Yup. It does sound wonderful. As long as the cup ends up at least half full again at the end of the night.